Mike Quigley

I think the President had it right in the State of the Union Address when he talked about regulation and finding a middle ground.

Where do we draw the line?

What I have learned from about States' rights is that people are for them if they agree with the issue.

``I fear that in every assembly, members will obtain an influence by noise, not sense. By meanness, not greatness. By contracted hearts, not large souls.'' Mr. Speaker, John Adams wrote those words to his wife over 200 years ago, but the…

I do not believe there should be any pride of ownership here.

Without better, more transparent data, we are flying blind.

In fiscal year 2009, these underutilized buildings cost us $1.7 billion to operate.

The Federal Government currently maintains 14,000 buildings and structures deemed excess and over 76,000 properties identified as underutilized.

Yet we waste billions of dollars each year maintaining properties we no longer need.

The Federal Government is the largest property owner in the world, with an inventory over 900,000 buildings and structures and 41 million acres of land.

Representative Quigley's legislation would make improvements to help speed disposals, require greater transparency in the reporting on Federal property, allow agencies to retain the proceeds of property sales, and give GSA the authority to…

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Page 3, line 2, after ``servation.'' insert the following: ``The Council shall provide live online…

We are trying to balance a known entity, the greatest economic downturn since the Depression caused by this lack of regulation.

I fear that this hearing is focused on issues which distract from the obvious task at hand.

I demand a recorded vote. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Illinois will be postponed. Amendment No. 7 Offered by Ms. Eshoo The Acting CHAIR. It is now…

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows Page 4, beginning on line 14, strike paragraph (2) and redesignate the subsequent paragraphs accordingly…

States like Illinois need fiscal reform. We need to streamline, consolidate, and reinvent government not because it is unimportant, but because its mission is so important; it is where the wheels hit the street.

I do think we have a revenue problem, and the revenue problem at the local level was because of the economic downturn.

We need to focus on policies that create jobs and promote economic growth.

Step three in this process is making hard decisions on how to move forward with a responsible deficit and debt reduction package.

Step two must be fixing our broken budget process.

Step one in righting our course is agreeing on what defines fiscal sustainability.

For a country with the proud history and vast resources of the United States, this is unacceptable--it is unacceptable because government's mission matters.

By 2050, the government will be collecting that same 20 percent, but spending 45 percent--our deficits will only get worse from there.

The CBO projects that by 2030, the federal government will be spending 30 percent of GDP but collecting only 20 percent in tax revenue.